D’Antoni feels a major difference at Marshall as Herd hoops enjoys resurgence

You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone enjoying the resurgence of Marshall’s men’s basketball program more than veteran head coach Dan D’Antoni.

Winners of five straight, the Thundering Herd (17-4, 6-2 Sun Belt) have already well surpassed last season’s win total of 12 and find itself in a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference with Southern Mississippi and Louisiana approaching the midway point of league play. 

“We have to play a little bit better, but we’re playing pretty well and we got some people excited,” D’Antoni said Monday on MetroNews Talkline. “We got a chance. Just have to make sure we put the hard hat on and come to work.”

After opening the season with a one-point loss at Queens University, Marshall reeled off nine consecutive victories, defeating three Mid-American Conference foes in addition to victories at Duquesne and Robert Morris.

Following another narrow road loss at UNC-Greensboro, the Herd bounced back with a resounding victory against Toledo.

Marshall then began Sun Belt play 1-2, suffering its only home loss to date against James Madison before falling at Georgia Southern, but it’s ran off five straight victories since, the most recent of which came Saturday in overtime at Arkansas State, 87-78.

MU continues to be led by fifth-year senior Taevion Kinsey. The 6-foot-5 swingman is the nation’s 14th leading scorer through Monday with an average of 21.2 points and went over 2,000 career points earlier this season. Not far behind is 6-3 senior guard Andrew Taylor, who averages 19.3 points. The decision of both to return, along with 6-8 forward and former Chapmanville High School star Obinna Anochili-Killen, has proven beneficial.

“Our three big guys from last year decided to come back,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a great atmosphere here. We didn’t lose anybody.”

Marshall also brought in sharpshooter Kamdyn Curfman from VMI, the team’s third-leading scorer at 12.3 points who ranks No. 5 in college basketball with 72 3-pointers. All but 12 of Curfman’s field goals are from long distance.

“We filled one hole we felt like we had at shooter from the portal,” D’Antoni said.

While Curfman has been a welcomed addition, D’Antoni made it clear he believes retaining and developing players within the program is key for Marshall to sustain success.

“I don’t like going to the portal. I don’t want to go to the portal,” D’Antoni said. “We have to retain our players and do our program right to retain our players. If we do it right and get them where they feel comfortable with our fan base, the city itself and the state of West Virginia, they want to stay. 

“We were able to retain them and I hope that we’ll continue to do that and not have to go that portal. I do think a big part of having a good program is that you develop these players as they come through, especially at our level. Then we have a lot of continuity and ideas of what they have to do to win.”

Another key addition that’s exceeded expectations early is 7-foot-1 true freshman center Micah Handlogten.

Handlogten’s role continues to grow as the season progresses and he recently had three consecutive double-doubles in league games with 10 blocks over that span.

Handlogten is averaging 8.4 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. A native of Huntersville, N.C., he’s the No. 6 rebounder, No. 4 offensive rebounder and ninth in blocked shots in all of college basketball.

“He’s a natural big man and has long arms for a 7-1 guy, and he has great hands,” D’Antoni said. “If the ball is up there to be grabbed, once he gets his hands on it, he normally retains it. He was an all-state lacrosse player in North Carolina for a couple years. They won a couple state championships. Being 7-foot-1, holding that stick and using your wrists to play that game, his hands are really good. 

“He’s a big surprise. At the same time, we thought he had this type of future when we recruited him. We didn’t know it was going to come so quick.”

The Herd has 10 Sun Belt games remaining before the league tournament starting Thursday with a home matchup against UL-Monroe.

Marshall is currently No. 67 in the NCAA’s Net Ratings, ahead of programs such as Texas Tech, Michigan, Villanova and Syracuse.

While hope for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament would likely require the Herd to lose no more than two more games, there is plenty to play for down the stretch. It’s a far different situation from a year ago, when Marshall sputtered its way to a 12-21 record in its final season in Conference USA.

“Last year, we had a lot of things going on,” D’Antoni recalled. “I’d had a hip replacement. I think I had long COVID. We had administrative change from the President to the Athletic Director. There was a lot of negativity and I said before we went into last year, ‘This is not going to be good.’ I could feel it. I guess I’ve been in this business long enough to know an atmosphere of winning and it wasn’t here. 

“Then we got a new administration and my health is all back and it makes a difference. Even last year with our losses, they were close. We were competitive. We just couldn’t pull them off. It doesn’t take a whole lot to win or lose. To win at a high rate, you have to do all the little things. If you’re not doing the little things, you’re going to get beat. If you don’t feel good or have a negative atmosphere around, you’ll do that. This year, our administration — with [Athletic Director] Christian Spears and our President Brad Smith — brings in optimism. They’re ‘can do’ guys.”





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